“You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas, and the current overcame me. All your breakers and your billows swept over me. But I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight, yet I will look once more toward your holy temple.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Have you ever been in the midst of a mess and thought or said, “Why God?” That’s not an uncommon reaction to tough situations. Now, it could be simply that we are crying out like that because we genuinely don’t understand why things are happening like they are. But, in the midst of hard times we can’t easily explain, God is a convenient target for our accusations. This natural reaction is sort of what we see on Jonah’s lips here.
In this second part of our series, After Christmas, I answer the question I left hanging last week: How do we keep following Jesus no matter what? The answer is found in an episode from out of the life of Nehemiah. Nehemiah accomplished some great things in a fairly short amount of time. His secret is one we can use in our own life to make sure our after Christmas times aren’t the letdowns they so often are. Keep reading to find out what this is and how to implement it in your life.
Stay Focused
Have you ever been distracted?
So, just the other day I was looking at the NFL schedules for next year. Guess who faces off at some point in the season? The Chief and the Panthers. In Kansas City. Boom. We’ll have to have a watching party.
In any event, have you ever been distracted?
Many of you know I enjoy building little metal models. I got some for Christmas this year about which I am most excited. One is this really cool looking blue dragon. They also make a red version. There’s also a grand Chinese gate. There is also a new design line that is various suits of armor. Those are next on my list.
As I was saying, though, have you ever been distracted?
Have I mentioned how excited I am for Celebrate Sunday next week? It is going to be a party. God has done many, many great things around here in the last year and we are going to celebrate them in grand fashion.
But what I really wanted to ask you this morning was if you’ve ever been distracted? Personally, my own focus is like a laser. Do you believe me? It focuses directly and steadily on whatever it happens to be pointed at in a given moment. Did I mention that this laser is actually a laser pointer residing in the hands of a two-year-old? Yessir, my focus is just like a laser…pointer…in the hands of a sugared-up two-year-old…who’s entertaining himself by tormenting a cat. Squirrel! What were we talking about again?
“I called to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me. I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol; you heard my voice.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Are you the kind of person who calls for help before you break something or after it’s already shattered into pieces? It’s not just a matter of pride that determines how far you go into something you can’t do before you wave the help flag. Sometimes it’s a matter of information. For Jonah here, it was a simple matter of the fact that he didn’t have any other options. The question is, though, did he really mean it?
“The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Have you ever felt like you’ve had a rough day? Have you ever felt like everything is falling apart around you and the pieces keep getting smaller and smaller such that trying to put them back together is looking like an increasingly hopeless project? Whenever that depressing feeling is pressing in on you and despair is starting to take hold in your heart, tell yourself this one little things and feel better about your situation: At least I’m not sitting in the belly of a giant fish.
**No post tomorrow. We’ll get back to our regular schedule on Thursday. Happy New Year!
“But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
How busy are you? Okay, how busy are you, really? If your family or simply your life is at all like mine, you have a tendency to schedule yourself to the point that you simply run from thing to thing to thing and never stop to breathe, much less think about any of them. While that’s an easy pattern to fall into, it isn’t one that will lead to flourishing in the long term. As we sit here in the limbo that is the days between Christmas and the New Year, let’s see if we can’t take a page out of Mary’s playbook and take it all in for a minute.
The Nexus 